Senior forward Andrew Stokes posted a double-double with a career-high 27 points and 11 rebounds to lead Wayne State past Bemidji State 76-67 in a Northern Sun Conference men's basketball game Saturday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  It was the fifth straight win for the Wildcats, now 14-8 and 10-6 in the NSIC South, while Bemidji State falls to 6-15 and 3-13 in the NSIC North.
            Bemidji State held the lead more in the game than WSC – 18:45 to 17:36 – as the visiting Beavers opened the game making 10 of their first 15 shots and held several double digit leads at the midway point of the opening half.
            The Beavers led 25-13 at the 10:03 mark and was still in front 30-20 with 7:47 remaining in the half when the Wildcats began a rally and tied the score at 31-31 on a JJ Ferrin 3-pointer with 2:44 to before halftime. 
            A Kai Smith 3-pointer with two seconds remaining in the half gave the 'Cats a 37-35 lead at intermission.
            The two squads battled back and forth early in the half trading leads but it was a Wildcat scoring run at the midway point of the second half that gave WSC the lead for good.
            WSC held a 45-40 lead at the 15:43 mark following a Wade Voss layup.  But BSU battled back and took a 52-50 lead with 10:19 to play.  It was the final lead of the game for the Beavers as WSC scored the next 12 points and grabbed a double-digit lead at 62-52 on a Andrew Stokes three-point play.
            The 'Cats pushed the lead to 14 at 67-53, but Bemidji State wouldn't go away and trailed by only six with two minutes to play at 73-67 before WSC closed the contest for a 76-67 win.
            Stokes made 11 of 17 shots and 4-6 free throws for his career-high 27 points.  Matt Noll and Aurrion Harris also hit double figures with 10 each.
            Wayne State shot 47 percent from the field making 26 of 55 shots, going 7 of 21 from the 3-point line and 17 for 23 at the free throw stripe.
            John Pecarich scored 25 points for Bemidji State with Nathan Fenske adding 16.
            BSU was 23 of 60 from the field for 38.3 percent and hit 8 for 26 from the 3-point line.  The Beavers made 13 of 18 free throws.
            Bemidji State held a 38-35 edge in rebounding with Stokes' 11 boards leading the 'Cats while Harris had nine.
            Noll, Harris and Ferrin each handed out four assists while Ferrin had four steals.
            The Wildcats resume NSIC South Division play next weekend with road games at Winona State Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. and at Concordia-St. Paul Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.